Almost all of his class wore long, flowing gowns and beards; but not so with Bollinger. He wore a suit of the latest style and cut, and was clean-shaven. Before he had been in the town three days all the girls had fallen in love with him. But Bollinger was an extremely modest young man who had no intention of falling in love with any of the enamored young ladies—at least not during the first week.
Miss Camilla Knight was away when Bollinger arrived in the town, and did not return until he had been there nearly a week. It was when she returned that Bollinger discovered that being single had its disadvantages. He made enquiries, and found out that Camilla lived alone with her father, who, besides being a widower, was a rough and austere man; one who would brook no insult, intentional or otherwise, and woe betide the man who dared to insult Papa Knight by asking him for his daughter. There were many young men in the town who could show you the exact spot that they landed upon after having been kicked off the veranda of the Knight home, simply because they had had the audacity to ask for Camilla’s hand, and, incidentally, the rest of her.
Camilla had come home ill, and the doctors had given up hope of saving her life. When Bollinger heard this he hung up a sign which read, “Doctor John Bollinger, Magnetic Healer.” The town smiled. So this young man who had been the cause of so much speculation as to what his business was, had proven to be a mere magnetic healer. With one accord they resolved not to patronize him. Camilla’s father saw “Dr.” Bollinger’s advertisement in one of the town papers, and also an editorial in another, urging the people not to go to him. He showed the paper to Camilla, who urged her father to try him.
“He can’t do any harm, and he may do some good,” soliloquized Papa Knight; “and I’ll be hanged if I’ll not do anything because an old editor tells me not to.” So he sent for Bollinger.
Mr. Knight was a little old-fashioned, and his ideas of magnetic healers were somewhat behind the time. It was no wonder, therefore, that he was surprised when an up-to-date young man handed him a card which read, “John Bollinger, Magnetic Healer.”
“Be you the doctor?” he asked, in surprise.
“I be,” the other replied, with assumed gravity.
“Humph! You don’t look like you had enough magnetic power to cure a fly.”
“Nevertheless I have enough to heal your daughter.”
“How did you know that it was my daughter who was ill?” the astonished father asked. “You have only just arrived, haven’t you?”